Independent news from the Indigenous Media Freedom Alliance

Marcella Giles presentation: “What every allottee should know”

JT Shining Oneside shared stories about her Ojibwe and Anishinaabe inheritance during the Native American Heritage Month Celebration on Nov. 15. She spoke about the coming-of-age and traditional birth ceremonies. (Photo credit/ Adrianna Adame)

Here is a University of Montana press release about the Indian Land Tenure Foundation “Lessons of our Land” speaker series:

MISSOULA – Land rights attorney Marcella Giles will give the next presentation in the “Lessons of Our Land: The Indian Land Tenure Foundation Speaker Series” at The University of Montana on Wednesday, Feb. 23.

Giles will address pertinent issues about trust land in Indian Country in her presentation titled “What Every Allottee Should Know” from 4 to 5:15 p.m. in Payne Family Native American Center Room 105. A reception will follow in the center’s Bonnie HeavyRunner Gathering Place. All speaker series events are free and open to the public.

Giles will tackle important questions that need to be asked about ownership and management of Indian trust land and offer guidelines about accepting payment from the Claims Resolution Act of 2010, considering each landowner’s unique situation.

A Muscogee Creek lawyer who specializes in protecting oil and gas leases, Giles works in Washington, D.C. She is a member of the Indian Land Working Group and serves as attorney general for the Seminole and Creek Nations in Oklahoma. She said allotment policies dating to 1887 have left today’s landowner with obscure titles, deficient probates, lost records, unidentified parcels of restricted land, mineral-ownership chaos and other myriad problems.

“Lessons of Our Land” continues with presentations in March by Narcisse Blood, Cris Stainbrook, Elouise Cobell and Julie Cajune. A full series schedule and more information about speakers are available online at https://clients.loudskymedia.com/buffalosfire.com .

The Indian Land Tenure Foundation is a community-based, nonprofit organization focused on the recovery, management and control of American Indian lands by Indian people. For more information, visit http://iltf.org , call Jodi Rave at 406-396-8537 or e-mail jodi.rave@umontana.edu .

Jodi Rave Spotted Bear

Jodi Rave Spotted Bear is the founder and director of the Indigenous Media Freedom Alliance, a 501-C-3 nonprofit organization with offices in Bismarck, N.D. and the Fort Berthold Reservation. Jodi spent 15 years reporting for the mainstream press. She's been awarded prestigious Nieman and John S. Knight journalism fellowships at Harvard and Stanford, respectively. She also an MIT Knight Science Journalism Project fellow. Her writing is featured in "The Authentic Voice: The Best Reporting on Race and Ethnicity," published by Columbia University Press. Jodi currently serves as a Society of Professional Journalists at-large board member, an SPJ Foundation board member, and she chairs the SPJ Freedom of Information Committee. Jodi has won top journalism awards from mainstream and Native press organizations. She earned her journalism degree from the University of Colorado at Boulder.